SYDNEY, July 22 (Xinhua) -- A rare white magpie has been spotted in South Australia's state capital Adelaide, fueling interest among animal biologists and the community about new insights into the popular birds' characteristics.
The male magpie, found in the city's northern parklands, is not an albino but is instead leucistic, or having a genetic variation in its cells responsible for making black pigment, local media quoted University of South Australia biology professor Chris Daniels as saying on Sunday.
The bird's beak can still be black and its eyes the normal brown color, but the body "can be completely white, or can be a mixture of grey and white or can have odd white patches across it," Daniels told the ABC news channel. An animal with albinism usually sports distinctive pink eyes.
Daniels said the rare magpie will offer unique opportunities to study color and color variation in animal behavior.
"It is quite rare, so we don't know if they are able to form a pair and become the dominant territorial bird or just hang around and live life as a bachelor or spinster."
The latest discovery is set to boost local interest in the magpies, which regularly top the list of animals that the community most interact with, he said. The intelligent birds are a ubiquitous sight in Australian cities and are protected as a native species.
"When we've done our studies at the university on what animals people really connect with, magpies rank number one."
